Project 2025, a conservative initiative set for a potential second Trump administration, proposes that the Justice Department should “investigate and prosecute” the leading election official in Pennsylvania regarding the 2020 election. This is part of significant reforms aimed at federal law enforcement.

This marks an extraordinary threat aimed at a specific statewide official—Pennsylvania’s Democratic election supervisor—in a vital swing state where Donald Trump and his supporters made extensive efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, a state crucial for Trump if he seeks to reclaim the presidency in November.

Although the policy outline does not directly identify which Pennsylvania official is being targeted, the only individual who occupied the position of secretary of the commonwealth in 2020 was Kathy Boockvar.

Boockvar stated to YSL News that her department “absolutely” did nothing wrong, accusing the creators of Project 2025 of promoting “disinformation and conspiracy theories to a level where it threatens to undermine our democratic institutions.”

Trump has been attempting to distance himself from Project 2025 amidst significant criticism of its extreme proposals regarding the expansion of executive power, elimination of civil service protections for federal employees, and opposition to what the document terms “woke culture warriors.” The majority of the individuals behind the project have previous ties to the Trump administration.

Among its extreme recommendations, the plan aims to limit federal civil rights enforcement and redirect the Justice Department to investigate alleged fraud in state-level voter registrations.

The document indicates that such changes would facilitate federal legal actions against Pennsylvania’s election chief concerning guidance provided to counties in 2020 about how voters could submit ballots if their mail-in ballots were rejected.

“It is well past time to cease arguing over the verified and audited results of the 2020 election,” remarked Al Schmidt, the current elections chief of Pennsylvania.

A Proposed Agenda for Trump

Project 2025 was developed by the Heritage Foundation, which did not respond to requests for comment. The foundation’s president, Kevin Roberts, described the policies outlined in the 900-page document as “the best endeavor of the conservative movement” and “the final opportunity for the next conservative president to safeguard our republic.”

The Heritage Foundation is a prominent conservative think tank that has influenced various Republican administrations since Reagan’s era in the 1980s. In 2018, the organization highlighted Trump’s alignment with its previous “Mandate for Leadership,” a title also echoed in Project 2025.

At least 31 out of the 38 contributors to the project have connections to Trump or his initial administration. This includes former White House assistant special counsel Steven Groves, who is noted as an editor, and Gene Hamilton, a former official from the Trump Justice Department.

Democrats have severly criticized Trump for this initiative, prompting the ex-president to distance himself, which led to the project’s director stepping down in July.

Danielle Alvarez, a senior advisor for Trump’s campaign, stated that the Democrats are “spreading lies and inciting fear” regarding these policies, asserting that “President Trump’s commitments to the overlooked individuals in our society and the RNC Platform represent the only policies he endorses for another term.”

‘Radical Cultural Changes’ Proposed at DOJ

Historically, employees at the Justice Department have prided themselves on avoiding political influence, but Project 2025 encourages the next administration to diverge from this norm and intervene directly, including stripping civil service protections from long-standing nonpartisan prosecutors.

This project labels the DOJ as “an oversized bureaucracy filled with personnel committed to sustaining a radical liberal agenda,” suggesting that the Civil Rights Division, which addresses discrimination matters, should be “restructured” and have certain functions “reassigned” to the Criminal Division.

Jon Greenbaum, a former Justice Department voting rights lawyer during the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, noted, “This signifies a reduced focus on enforcing anti-discrimination laws by reallocating cases from those dedicated to such issues.”

Justin Levitt, a Loyola Law School professor and former department employee under Barack Obama, called these changes “a dramatic cultural shift and one where the DOJ is genuinely weaponized.”

Efforts to Prosecute Voter Registration Fraud

According to Project 2025, the DOJ has refrained from pursuing voter registration fraud investigations because it was deemed “too politically sensitive.” Experts predict that this could lead to scenarios where Trump loyalists may be pressured to initiate criminal inquiries or prosecutions against his political adversaries.

In December 2020, during the last days of his presidency, Trump attempted to place loyalists in key DOJ roles, who aimed to send a letter to officials in Georgia, indicating an investigation into “various irregularities” surrounding the election.

Experts have cautioned that if Donald Trump returns to the presidency, there could be an increase in governmental actions. “There could be a situation where the Justice Department is misused to pursue unfounded claims of voter fraud,” said Greenbaum.

He also mentioned Trump’s attempts to replace Attorney General Bill Barr during his efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election. “Towards the end of Trump’s term, he sought to exert influence over the Justice Department, but faced pushback,” he said.

Even in the absence of interference from the Justice Department, the unfounded claims of fraud put forth by Trump and his supporters have been linked to instances of political violence, including threats against election officials and Democratic electors.

“Autocratic governments often exploit their justice systems to go after their opponents,” Levitt noted.

Conservative uproar over provisional ballots

Project 2025 contends that the DOJ should investigate “the legality of state election guidance,” highlighting the directions Pennsylvania issued to its local election officials regarding provisional ballots.

Provisional ballots are meant to allow individuals to cast their votes when poll workers cannot immediately verify their registration status. Since the federal requirement for states to provide provisional ballots was established over 20 years ago, election offices have implemented these to assist voters facing various issues at polling places, such as insufficient identification.

Pennsylvania’s guidance in 2020 outlined conditions under which provisional ballots could be issued, such as situations where a voter “could not successfully use an absentee or mail-in ballot,” or if their ballot “was rejected by the county’s election board and they believe they are eligible to vote.” (Election officials later determine the voter’s eligibility and whether that ballot counts.)

Project 2025 accused Pennsylvania’s election chief of attempting to “bypass state law” by providing this guidance, asserting that transferring prosecutorial authority to the DOJ’s Criminal Division was necessary for “the proper enforcement of the law.”

Levitt from Loyola Marymount expressed surprise at this proposal, noting that the law suggested by Project 2025 was originally designed to prosecute extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan for targeting Black voters with violence and intimidation.

Boockvar, the former election chief of Pennsylvania, clarified that the guidance her office provided to county boards was both legal and optional.

The Pennsylvania Department of State stated: “The proposals laid out in Project 2025 are a blatant attempt to disenfranchise Pennsylvania voters.”